Which area is less pretentious???? (schools, live, restaurants)

[JD984]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

Ashburn is MOST CERTAINLY NOT "keep up with the Jones," especially in comparison to some of the other affluent areas in NoVA. Good grief, man, have you been to McLean or Great Falls? Or worse still, ritzier areas of SoCal or Scottsdale, VA?

Furthermore, Ashburn is about 30 (33 to be exact), not 40, miles from DC. (I variously commuted to 15th & K in DC and Clarendon in Arlington from Ashburn at one point).

I used to travel a lot and it usually took me 15 minutes from my house to Dulles and I found a Dulles a pretty good airport with good connections everywhere, but esp. excellent for overseas travel.

I don't think you can objectively say that people in "Oakton, Vienna, Arlington, Falls Church City" are friendlier. In fact, the common perception is probably that the people in the Beltway are snottier and less friendly than those who live farther out. That's NOT my personal view, but that's probably more the common view.

I have friends who live all over the NoVA area from Alexandria to Arlington to Great Falls to Centreville to South Riding (and of course I used to live in Ashburn), all with small children. Of those only *I* had block parties. Most of my friends did not even know most of their neighbors.

It strikes me that most people in places like Ashburn realize they ARE the Joneses, so they might as well not sweat it.

Agree 100% that purporting to generalize as to which suburbs are more or less "pretentious" than others is a very silly, not to mention misleading, exercise.

Where exactly is Scottsdale, VA? Did you mean AZ?

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Where exactly is Scottsdale, VA? Did you mean AZ?

Yes, I meant AZ, not VA.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Agree 100% that purporting to generalize as to which suburbs are more or less "pretentious" than others is a very silly, not to mention misleading, exercise.

Im surprised we didnt already get an attack on reverse snobbery.

I would add, that without committing to whether or not some nabes are pretentious, there is certainly more divergence on that WITHIN MoCO and WITHIN NoVa, than between the two, IMHO.

[terrence81]

I would say that in my experience the further one gets from DC the less pretentious. Although I have also heard that Ashburn is the exception to the rule but I've never spent time so I could be wrong.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by terrence81

I would say that in my experience the further one gets from DC the less pretentious.

Little river turnpike from Landmark to Annandale to FFX city is certainly an exception to that rule - not that Woodson Land (annandale beyond the beltway, or fairfax east of FFX city, or whatever you call it) is as pretentious as SOME places which will go unnamed.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

Little river turnpike from Landmark to Annandale to FFX city is certainly an exception to that rule - not that Woodson Land (annandale beyond the beltway, or fairfax east of FFX city, or whatever you call it) is as pretentious as SOME places which will go unnamed.

I forgot about Landmark and Annandale. Good point.

[bonnielisabeth]

I moved from Cary to MoCo...thinking it would be somewhat similar--it is not and, if you are looking for an area more like Cary, I would also advise Reston / Chantilly. They are also close to Dulles.

If you really need to be near BWI, you could look into living in Columbia, MD or Clarksville, MD...which are also more similar to Cary.

[theS5]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I didn't intend on starting a debate on where the pretentious people live. I was just looking for some conventional wisdom.
Also, I am not looking to recreate Cary, NC. In fact, I would not mind something more along the lines of where I am originally from in NJ.

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by theS5

Thanks for all of the feedback. I didn't intend on starting a debate on where the pretentious people live. I was just looking for some conventional wisdom.
Also, I am not looking to recreate Cary, NC. In fact, I would not mind something more along the lines of where I am originally from in NJ.

But what was your hometown in NJ like?

[bonnielisabeth]

Originally Posted by theS5

Thanks for all of the feedback. I didn't intend on starting a debate on where the pretentious people live. I was just looking for some conventional wisdom.
Also, I am not looking to recreate Cary, NC. In fact, I would not mind something more along the lines of where I am originally from in NJ.

An old friend (and longtime DC area resident) told me before I moved here... folks from the south / mid-west usually like Virginia, folks from the New Jersey / north-east prefer Maryland and Montgomery County.

Don't know if this is still true or not, but I know I would like to leave MoCo and go some place more like the VA burbs (hence, why I was reading this forum...)

Seems like there are tons of people from NJ in Montgomery Co, and Silver Spring is definitely not stuck up